Great wiredtohunt podcast on deer research

[JoeRE]

I know a lot of guys follow wiredtohunt and see every podcast that comes out, but for those that don't, this one is definitely worth a listen!

Covers a lot of relevant information to hunters and wildlife managers and Bronson Strickland explains things very well with very nuanced opinions.

Probably the best podcast on deer research I have heard yet.

http://wiredtohunt.com/2017/02/09/wired-to-hunt-podcast-139-the-fascinating-world-of-whitetail-research-with-bronson-strickland/

[JoeRE]

I got a big kick out of the "cull buck" discussion

[thwack16]

I was very excited when I woke up and saw that a new Wired to Hunt podcast had uploaded and Dr. Strickland was the guest. I've followed his stuff and that stuff that Mississippi State's deer lab has put out for awhile. I'm an alum of MSU, so that helps.

A lot of you guys in the Midwest are going to be confused by the culling and him talking about shooting lesser bucks and such. I don't agree with it, but all of our states in the Southeast have very liberal bag limits (3 in MS), and most everyone feels like they have to kill a buck a year.

My favorite part of the podcast is where he talks about the mature buck bell curve and consequentially high grading your bucks by shooting the best 3 year olds available each season. That's something that we've seen happen over the last few years on our farm.

[JoeRE]

The talk about areas with really unbalanced buck to doe ratios made a light bulb go on in my head. That results in a lot of herd stress and does getting bred late and ultimately contributes to bucks with smaller antlers because it was shown the potential of a buck's antlers is stunted what happens to its mother.

That might explain a couple areas that I hunt. A lot of deer, very unbalanced buck to doe ratio which carries over into a strong second rut with a lot of late fawns running around every year. Buck antlers seem to be below average in those areas and I always wondered why. Same soils and crop rotation as other areas I hunt literally only a few miles away, but the only difference of higher deer densities, much worse buck to doe ratios, lots of late fawns. The extra stress on the does might be it.

Interesting that per the current research, in one or two generations antler size and all that could bounce back to normal if the deer density was reduced and buck/doe ratio was improved

[thwack16]

I think you're onto something there. A fawn that was conceived during the second rut is virtually playing catch-up for his first several years. Consequentially, a buck that is still looking for does during the second rut, and even extending his chasing into a third 28 day period is losing that much time to recoup for his next antler growing season.

[Wlog]

That was great! Thanks for sharing!

[stash59]

I gotta catch up on all of my podcasts!

[cbigbear]

Great podcast!!!

- The hog problem is real & a sad situation. The popularity of hog dogging down here spread hogs like wildfire.

[Bowhunter4life]

Very informative podcast. I really enjoyed this one. So much valuable information that truely makes perfect sense. Learned a lot. Thanks for sharing Joe.

[Twenty Up]

Probably one of the best W2H podcasts I've listened to

[Tufrthnails]

Love W2H podcast. This is one of my favorites. I was a bit distracted listening to it yesterday so i will be listening to it again.

[Outdoor814]

The talk about areas with really unbalanced buck to doe ratios made a light bulb go on in my head. That results in a lot of herd stress and does getting bred late and ultimately contributes to bucks with smaller antlers because it was shown the potential of a buck's antlers is stunted what happens to its mother.

That might explain a couple areas that I hunt. A lot of deer, very unbalanced buck to doe ratio which carries over into a strong second rut with a lot of late fawns running around every year. Buck antlers seem to be below average in those areas and I always wondered why. Same soils and crop rotation as other areas I hunt literally only a few miles away, but the only difference of higher deer densities, much worse buck to doe ratios, lots of late fawns. The extra stress on the does might be it.

Interesting that per the current research, in one or two generations antler size and all that could bounce back to normal if the deer density was reduced and buck/doe ratio was improved

I just listened to the podcast this morning and I was thinking the exact same thing! I also had no idea that a mother's diet had a direct affect on antler growth.

I also found it interesting that all these guys on TV think that by taking a lesser buck out of the heard is going to help produce bigger bucks. You'd think that they would have caught on by now or realized that it's not helping. And if it were it would only be a matter of a few inches.

I thought it was interesting that a buck with no competition could potentially breed up to 20 doe a year!

I also didn't know that antler growth is so important to a buck that during the growth cycle they develop osteoporosis!!!

[UofLbowhunter]

I just listened to the podcast this morning. Very good! Grant woods had the the study on antler growth on his show as well back when they first released it. Great study! Hope some information like that can clear up some misunderstandings ! Good job mark kenyon!

[Whitetailaddict]

Haven't had a chance to listen to the podcast yet so forgive me if I am way off of what they are saying but I have heard other opinions related to herd stress. Granted these are opinions and not research-based but another former W2H podcast subject has wrote about a buck:doe ratio closer to 1:1 puts more stress on the bucks in the area because they are constantly fighting off other bucks trying to defend the does they do manage to get with. He also went on to say more does for the bucks makes for a less intense rut and the bucks don't spend as much energy looking for the next doe. He was not saying we shouldn't shoot does but simply stating that a higher doe:buck ratio may not be a bad thing for the bucks. A lot of the management he was advocating for was looking at how much of the local preferred browse was being destroyed by the current deer population and reducing deer numbers when there is not adequate food to sustain high numbers. It may be that these areas where the does are under extra stress may be coupled with less nutrition for them which would signal more does need to be taken in these areas. Not sure if this was there point but just trying to put another perspective out there. Not sure which one I believe more in.

[mainebowhunter]

Real interesting. Moondude had his 39 mature buck thread that kind of was along the same line as your talking about Joe. With urban sprawl he has seen a drop in antler growth because the deer were stressed.

Love the cull bucks stuff. Cracks me up. Very interesting how genetics cannot really be controlled by culling bucks.

I am going to relisten again at some point.